


love is a losing game

by Super_Danvers



Category: Snowpiercer (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Pre Season 2, alex cavill, alexandra cavill - Freeform, audrey x melanie, melanie x audrey, melaudrey, wilford - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28762734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Danvers/pseuds/Super_Danvers
Summary: Wilford storms the Nightcar.
Relationships: Miss Audrey/Melanie Cavill
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	love is a losing game

Audrey raised a defiant chin as a fearful hush fell upon the Nightcar. The muffled fanfare coming from the other end of the train could be heard three miles away and it had been getting closer and closer now for the past three minutes. Those who had stayed in the Nightcar when Big Alice had latched onto Snowpiercer’s tail now hid fearfully behind Audrey the noise grew louder and louder. They’d seen Ruth parade through over an hour ago with the schoolchildren, screeching excitedly about the return of Mr Wilford and so they awaited their second change of command as it came inevitably nearer.

Audrey couldn’t count the number of hands that were holding hers. Her people clung to any part of her their fingers could reach; be it her hands or her clothes or even her hair. Anything to feel some sort of comfort. Despite all these people around her, Audrey had never felt more alone. Fear thundered in her heart and made it drum against her chest as if it were begging for her to run and hide. She couldn’t make words. If she opened her mouth, she was going to be sick.

When the Tail-end doors opened, a thin hiss of steam escaped the doorframe and give Audrey a shiver of fear. She swallowed it down, and glanced at the person to her right. It was Zarah, of course, with her arms wrapped around Audrey’s and she was staring ahead at the opening door with a frightened but defiant expression on her face. That warmed Audrey’s heart for a moment: if Zarah wasn’t scared, then neither was she.

“Songbird!” A sneering, smug voice bellowed. In all these seven years, Wilford’s voice had not changed and he had not forgotten the nickname that made Audrey feel sick to her stomach. “How I’ve missed you.”

He stepped through the door and opened his arms like a ringmaster embracing his applause. His dirty-blonde hair was still sleeked back and the glint in his eyes remained so deadly sinister that they could almost kill with a single glare. A fur coat covered his broad shoulders and little sprinkles of snow lay atop it. Audrey wondered for a brief second if he’d been outside at all since Snowpiercer’s departure. Probably not. The snow was in his hair too, sprinkled over it like frosting. He’d been somewhere cold, that was for sure.

Wilford didn’t enter the Nightcar alone. Behind him were Ruth, Layton, Till and all the others who had rushed to the Tail to investigate. There were a few that Audrey didn’t recognise, that in particular of a girl about Melanie’s height with short, dark hair cut above her shoulders. Her big, timid eyes reminded Audrey of the face Melanie would always make when someone was sharp with her. Melanie herself was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she was behind the floods of jackboot-looking men that poured in behind the rest.

“Not surprised to see me, Audrey?”

Wilford’s voice brought Audrey out of her thoughts. She glared at him, pursing her lips together. His sneer grew and he approached, the cane in his hand striking the floor with every step he took. Each new strike struck another chord of fear into Audrey’s heart and she did her best not to flinch every time she heard it. Wilford leaned in close enough that he was only inches from Audrey’s face.

“After all these years, you haven’t changed.” He observed.

Audrey noticed how his dark eyes looked her up and down, how they stopped and lingered on her lips before narrowing on her eyes again. She raised her chin and scowled.

“I’ve changed more than you know.”

Wilford glanced at the people behind her. “So it seems.” He leaned back, straightening up. “That won’t make a difference to my plan.”

Audrey looked over his shoulder. Only now did she realise Layton and the others had their hands bound behind their backs and each had an accompanying guard stood beside them with a hand on their shoulder. All of them but Ruth, who was stood to attention as always. Her eyes, wide and eager, darted around excitedly but whenever she glanced to the dark-haired girl beside her, a somewhat sad expression flickered over her features. The girl wasn’t tied up either but looked just as solemn as those who were.

Wilford beamed as he looked around the Nightcar. “You’ve kept her looking beautiful, Audrey. The best car aboard Snowpiercer!” He stretched out his arms again, ever the circus ringmaster. “I’m so happy to take back my train.”

“It’s not your train, Wilford.” Layton snarled. “It never was.”

Wilford only had to look in Layton’s direction for a guard to deliver a punch to his stomach and make him double over. The guard behind Layton grabbed his bound wrists and hauled them up, forcing him down lower. Zarah, who had been stood silently at Audrey’s side, let go and rushed forward.

“Stop it! Stop it, you’re hurting him!” She shouted as another punch was driven into Layton’s torso and his hands were dragged up higher.

“Zarah, don’t –“ Audrey tried to reach out and haul her back.

As Zarah ran past, Wilford stuck out his foot and she tripped straight over it, sprawling onto the floor with a loud yelp of pain. Audrey felt the entire room around her switch. Every person who had been holding onto her replaced their fear with pure anger, her included. Till bucked against her captor’s clutches, her face twisting with hatred. Wilford let out a loud, bellowing laugh as Zarah clutched her bleeding nose. Audrey pushed forward.

“She’s pregnant, you fucking asshole.” She snarled as she reached down and helped Zarah to her feet. The little brunette hissed a gasp through her teeth. Audrey pulled her in. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” She mumbled back, letting Audrey guide her back to safety.

The moment Zarah was among friends again, Audrey turned on Wilford. “Layton’s right. This will never be your train. Not as long as we’re alive.”

Wilford leered at her. “That can be arranged, my dear.”

Audrey looked at Ruth. “You condone this? A man who laughs at hurting a pregnant woman?” She snapped, glaring at the blonde furiously. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, should I? You’ve killed more people than Melanie ever did so fuck knows where you draw the line.”

“That’s not true, Audrey.” Ruth shot back.

“Isn’t it? You never looked out for people in this car. You just sat and drank _our_ drinks and ate _our_ food whilst we put on a show for your entertainment. At least Melanie had the good graces to turn a blind eye to how we handled business.” She cast a brief gaze at Wilford. “Tell me, Ruth, how is it having your little bitch boy back in real life and not just as pictures in your locker?”

Ruth’s mouth fell open, Wilford’s smile faltered and Audrey felt better. She knew throwing insults wasn’t going to do anything for her, but it felt good to have a small victory right off the bat. Wilford would take the Nightcar and the rest of the train, and everybody knew it.

He looked Audrey up and down again, disgusted. “Arrest her.” He muttered.

Without a word, one of his guards moved from the line and secured a pair of handcuffs around Audrey’s wrists. Wilford glanced around the Nightcar, looking for something. When he didn’t find it, he looked at Audrey.

“Tell me, Audrey. Where can I find Melanie Cavill?”

Audrey, although unsurprised, felt her breath catch in her throat. Her eyes darted to her friends, all who looked back at her with the same uncertainty she felt. Wilford made a noise of impatience.

“I don’t know where she is.” Audrey admitted.

“You’ve seen her? She’s alive?”

“She’s alive.”

Wilford stole a quick look around the Nightcar again. Audrey could sense his loathing, feel it radiating off of him as if he wore it like aftershave. His anger felt like fire, like it boiled his blood hotter than the sun.

Wilford glared at his remaining soldiers. “Tear the place apart. Find her.”

“What about this lot?” One guard asked, gesturing to Audrey and her frightened companions.

Wilford turned his back. “Let them go. They’re useless to me.” He reached a hand out to the dark-haired girl. Despite Wilford’s men starting their loud search, Audrey heard his next words. “Come, Alexandra, we’ll move onto the next carriage.”

Audrey knew that name. _Alexandra_. She almost missed it, but she knew that name. The girl nearly disappeared from view but not before Audrey met her eyes and knew where she recognised that face and knew where she’d heard that name before.

“Alex? You’re Alex?” Audrey shoved her way through the small swarm of men towards the girl. “Alexandra? Alexandra Cavill?”

She looked over her shoulder and Audrey realised how _young_ she was. Her height had suggested her early twenties, or at least somebody older than what her age truly was. This girl was only a teenager, and barely one at that. Ruth stuck her arm out in front of Audrey, blocking her path. Wilford stopped too, smirking.

“You’re Melanie’s daughter, aren’t you?” Audrey demanded. “You are. I know you are.”

The girl looked to Wilford, a shy, timid look in her eyes. Audrey could feel her fear. After a moment, and some silent conversation, the teenager turned to face Audrey. She offered her hand.

“I’m Alex. Alex Cavill.” She said in a calm, collected manner. “Mr Wilford tells me you know my mother. Her name is Melanie.”

Audrey could hear the conditioning in Alex’s voice, the scripted tone as if she were reading off a piece of paper on the other side of the room. She also didn’t fail to notice the teenager’s eyes dart once to Wilford’s long cane. Audrey reached out and held Alex’s hand, but did not shake it.

“Don’t you remember me, Alex?”

Alex looked expectantly to Wilford now, hoping for some kind of context for Audrey’s words. She didn’t remember her at all, Audrey realised. Audrey had hoped for some recognition for her face or perhaps even her name, because on Snowpiercer, her past memories were all the ones she clung on to. But there was nothing in Alex’s eyes that suggested she did the same. All memory of her mother and Audrey was wiped, cast out to the frozen wasteland outside.

When Wilford said nothing, Audrey snarled. “What have you done to her?” She started to approach. “What have you done to her you piece of-“

Audrey didn’t make it two steps before a fist landed a solid punch to her cheek, knocking her to the ground and out of Wilford’s pathway. The room spun, flashing white and green and purple in a rave of bright colours that dotted Audrey’s vision. She gasped out as the pain flooded to her face and blood fell in droplets to the floor.

Wilford smirked. “Thank you, Thomson.” He said to Audrey’s attacker, one of his soldiers.

Audrey, through her spinning eyes, looked up at him. Alex stood, half-hidden, behind him with a fearful expression on her face. Even Ruth looked aghast and frightened by the brutality of Wilford’s guard. She reached forward to help Audrey to her feet, but the brunette swatted her off.

“Don’t touch me.” She snarled, staggering upright by herself. She faltered for a minute as the entire room flipped upside down, but ultimately remained steadfast. “Melanie will never give you this train, Wilford.”

She turned slowly, and stumbled her way back to the bar. As she went, Wilford called out to her. “I think you’ll find it was never hers to give!”

Audrey ignored him and staggered to her room. Wilford turned on his heel and, with his remaining guards and captives, left the Nightcar.

+

By the time Audrey got to her bedroom, it had already been overturned by Wilford’s men. Her costumes lay in a messy heap on the floor, and some of her perfumes had been smashed by a sweeping arm across her dresser. Audrey stepped into the chaos with tired reserve. The punch to her face had created a bloody gash across her cheek, bruising it profusely. She glanced at it in her dresser mirror, sighing and hissing when her finger dabbed at the blood oozing from the cut. That was her out of the show for a while.

Audrey closed her eyes for a few seconds, sighed again, and then started to clear up her clothes. Dresses, trousers and shirts had been tossed everywhere, stepped on and even ripped in some places: a sight that pained Audrey greatly. As she picked up a hat and brushed it down, there was a quiet clang from the bedside table that nearly made her jump. Had anyone been outside of the room, they wouldn’t have heard it with regular hearing ears. For a minute, Audrey thought she’d imagined it but there was another clang a second later that told her otherwise.

She disregarded the hat and instead stumbled across the room to investigate. The sound kept repeating, metal tapping against something as if it were trying to escape. Audrey frowned at her table. Beneath it, concealed under a rug, something was moving in an up and down motion. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure the guards were gone from her room and the door was locked, before bending down and moving the table.

The moment she did, the movements under the rug became larger and more prominent. Audrey stared at it fearfully as it raised higher and higher until it lifted completely and slid away. Revealed beneath was a metal vent no wider than Audrey’s waist, pushing upwards. It was stuck by something, barely opening much more than Audrey’s hand, so she kneeled down and wrenched at it with both hands. After a couple of tries, it burst open and Audrey nearly topped backwards with it.

To begin with, there was silence. Apprehension, between Audrey and whoever – or _whatever_ – was trying to open the vent, lay thick like a cloud on a foggy morning. A pin could be heard in this quiet. Finally, Audrey sat up and inched a little closer:

“Hello? Is anybody there?”

When the head first appeared, Audrey almost thought it were a fish bowl, or a bucket of some sort. Grey fabric with a fogged-up visor emerged in the shape of a thimble, peering over the top of the vent as if it were a rabbit daring to leave its den. Audrey looked closer, narrowing her eyes as the thimble looked around and caught her presence. Two eyes peered back, and breath fogged the visor more. Then, a noise. A great sigh of relief.

“Audrey!”

Audrey’s curiosity turned to confusion and she leaned closer, propping up on her knees. _“Melanie?”_

Two arms squeezed out of the vent and took off the helmet which Audrey now recognised to be a Breachman suit and underneath revealed the face to the voice. Melanie’s dark hair had fallen out of its usual bun and now spilled over her shoulders in a mess that somehow retained her elegance. Her face was red from the cold and she was out of breath, but looking up at Audrey with some form of eager brilliance written across her features.

“God, I’m so glad to see you. You wouldn’t believe-“

Audrey shut her up by pressing firm, relieved kisses to her lips. Kneeling, with her elbows on her thighs and her hands cupping Melanie’s face, Audrey felt like the wave of relief would never end. Melanie, although surprised by the ferocity of Audrey’s kisses, contentedly returned the gesture. After a moment, she broke it by placing her hand on Audrey’s lapel and gently pushing her back. Her smile faltered when she noticed the tears in Audrey’s eyes.

“Are you alright?”

Audrey put a hand to her mouth, and looked cautiously over her shoulder, worried the guards outside may have heard them. Melanie’s smile vanished and her tone became low. She pulled Audrey’s hand from her face.

“Audrey…who did that to your cheek?” She questioned; her eyes fixed on the bloodied cut under Audrey’s eye.

Audrey put her hand over Melanie’s mouth again. “It doesn’t matter. You need to be quiet. Wilford’s men might come back through.” Her gaze fell upon Melanie again. “Melanie, where in the fuck have you been?”

The confusion between them was equal. Melanie stared at Audrey in befuddlement and bewilderment whilst Audrey stared back with the same expression. Neither knew which to go first as there was so much for each of them to cover. There was a noise outside, a guard sweeping his arm across someone’s shelf to look for clues for Melanie’s whereabouts. Audrey acted fast, grabbing Melanie under the arms and hauling her out of the vent and shoving her into the alcove behind the costume railing. She pressed herself up against her, holding baited breath as they waited for the noise to stop. Melanie noticed how Audrey kept sharp eyes on the door, how they narrowed when a shadow appeared beneath it and how they softened when it disappeared again.

“What’s Wilford doing?” Melanie whispered.

“He’s looking for you.”

“Thought so. Two trains are more than one and he’ll need a dead me to get it. There’s life outside, I saw it. There’s lights on in the city. Actual, real lights, can you believe that? The Earth is starting to heal and we can-“

“Sweetheart, we need to address the insanity going on in here before we venture outside.” Audrey mumbled, moving as though the information she had couldn’t be contained any longer, as if it were trying to leap out of her chest. In all honesty, her heart was drumming against her ribs like it was trying to break them. Her tears were properly threatening her cheeks now and making her lower lip wobble. “Melanie, oh my god, you won’t…Jesus I can’t even get it out it’s so…”

Melanie caught Audrey’s wrists and held her hands in hers, staying serious. “Audrey, tell me what’s going on. Now.”

Audrey, now on the other side of the room, could barely look at her. It hurt to look at her, knowing what she was about to tell her. Audrey wanted to keep this Melanie, which she knew was selfish, but true. The Melanie who needed her, the Melanie who would confide in her and the Melanie who was so broken down by the world that her only comfort stayed in Audrey’s heart. She finally looked and the tears immediately started blemishing her cheeks.

“It’s Alex.” Audrey finally whimpered. In a choked, wobbling tone, she managed to spit it out. “Melanie, it’s Alex. She’s alive.”

The silence was deafening. A long, booming silence that let time make itself known in the unruly peace. In that moment it seemed as if Melanie and Audrey were stood miles away from each other, not the few feet that they actually were. Audrey didn’t dare move and neither did Melanie, one frightened and the other stunned into paralysis. Audrey had never felt frightened of Melanie until this second. Every hot flame of loathing that burned through Melanie’s veins, Audrey felt it all. Melanie’s movements, when they finally came to her, were not shocked nor frightened, but instead deadly.

Without a word, she took off the Breachman suit and made for the door. Audrey watched her go, knowing she was powerless to stop her. Melanie slammed the door shut behind her and Audrey sat in silence, listening for Wilford’s men to take notice of her presence and take her. A small part of her felt like she’d never see Melanie again, never her Melanie again anyway. Something had changed the moment she’d told her about Alex. Some break or loss: she could sense it. A part of Melanie’s last smidge of humanity, wiped away by anger and hurt.

Audrey only feared she would never find it again.


End file.
